Review of the concert of A-ha in Kyiv

This autumn, as overwhelmed with music events as it is, many Ukrainian fans had November 4 circled in their calendars, because on that very special day they were saying goodbye to a legend - the band A-ha. The venue chosen for this occasion was IEC, the time - 19.00.
The floor was slowly filling with men and women who grew up with Hunting High and Low, The Sun Always Shines on TV, Manhattan Skyline, The Living Daylights, Crying in the Rain. Now completely self-sufficient people with families, careers and other necessary features of adulthood, they stood embracing each other, smiles never once leaving their faces throughout the concert, and gave the band a grateful welcome, thanking them for the youth in which Morten Harket’s voice got under their very skin and made their hearts sing.

By their side there were dancing boys and girls, brought up with this music by their parents - the music, that became the rope that binds generations together.

The band appeared on stage around 19:30 (the technicians deserve a thank-you for a fantastic job they did with lighting), and from this moment on the world seemed to halt in cosmic harmony. There are some actors, performers, directors, who seem to get younger as years go by, and A-ha belong to this category – forever young. The first to greet Kyiv was Magne, after him – Morten, who encouraged the audience to not be shy and sing along.

Although not all knew the words, and some remained shy, the band received a quiet, yet heartfelt sing-along to Hunting High and Low, sung as if a prayer. For some this concert meant going back into the past, for others it was the beginning of the future. Morten’s words sounded like a confession: “25 years is a long time, and through all of it you were a part of our lives, just like we were a part of yours.”

On this evening we also heard their good-bye single Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah), Forever Not Yours, Summer Moved On, in which Harket famously holds a note for 20,2 seconds – all in all, a set-list of 21 songs.

The footage on the screen made perfect combination with the songs – treetops covered in snow, a lit up city in the night, mountains, outer space, flowers, faces from the crowd and, of course, the band. Before the first encore the band left the stage for the audience to see “how it was” – the screen showed retrospective photos, snippets of performances, magazine articles, cover art – 25 years of history.

At the end of The Living Daylights, and before the second encore, on the screen appeared an image of a map, with Kyiv singled out. The fact that it happens in every city didn’t matter – A-ha know how reach into your heart and soul.

The evening ended with a start – Take On Me, the all too familiar video filled the screen, intertwining itself with the actual show, and nobody held back – everyone was dancing, like they danced before and like they surely will be.

Sorrow and sadness fill your heart, when something important in your life comes to an end, but it still happened, and it was unforgettable. This particular book is now closed, and we can confidently state: “We have become a part of a legend.”